Wildlands
Brogen Murphy
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Number of pages
A UTOPIAN FUTURE. A FORBIDDEN WILDERNESS. TWO KIDS TRYING TO SURVIVE. Twenty-five years into the future, no humans are allowed in the Wildlands – a vast area in Britain where wolves, lynx and bison roam free. The only exception is a high-speed train line between London and Glasgow that crosses right through the heart of the project. Thirteen-year-old Astrid and her little sister, Indie, are onboard when their train slows to a brief, unexpected stop … and they find themselves accidentally left behind. Stranded in this place of astonishing natural wonders and terrible dangers, they have only a rucksack, a phone without signal – and each other. As every wrong turn takes them deeper into the Wildlands, do they have the ingenuity and determination to survive? How far would YOU go to find your way home? Perfect for fans of THE EXPLORER and THE LAST WILD, this riveting and emotional story takes place in an imagined future teeming with lost flora and fauna that we can only dream about encountering today.
Reviews
Loved the writing style and it would raise some great discussions in the classroom! Two sisters get left behind in the 'wildlands,' and area spanning across England and Scotland set aside for animals. They have to work together to get back to civilisation, whilst the eldest sister comes to term with the fact she is not biologically related to one of her mums, as they used a sperm donor and the egg of her other mum. Familial love and concerns about the environment are the key themes of this beautiful book would recommend for Y5/6
ciararyan
I liked the start of the book with the map of where the Wildlands are - it made it very real! There is such an abundance of themes in this story: dependency on technology (phone charging), ecology, relationship between siblings, being a teenager and feeling out of depth, survival skills, resilience, awe at nature... As reader you become very quickly very invested in the characters of the 2 sisters trying to find a way out of the Wildlands and back into civilisation. I read the book very quickly because I needed to find out what happens... I think year 4 upwards would enjoy this story.
drummond